Faith on Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and on IowaCatholicRadio.com, examines the influence of law and society on Christianity and people of faith. "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court announced
that it will hear oral arguments on April 19 in arguably the most important
religious freedom case this term, Trinity
Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley. We have been reporting on
this case since it started and this week we will have as our guest Senior
Counsel Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defending Freedom to discuss the impact of
this case and the future of the so-called “Little Blaine” amendments.

Trinity Lutheran Church Learning Center in
Columbia sought to participate in the 2012 Playground Scrap Tire Surface
Material Grant Program. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources
disqualified the center solely because a church operates it. Last year, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit narrowly upheld a district court’s
decision that ruled in favor of the state.

At stake could be the future of the Little
Blaine Amendments which refers to a provision in 38 of the 50 state constitutions in the United States that forbid direct government
aid to educational institutions that have a religious affiliation. They were
designed to prohibit aid to parochial schools, especially those operated by the Catholic Church in locations with large
immigrant populations.

The Blaine
Amendments get their name from former Speaker of the House James G. Blaine who
proposed it as an amendment to the U. S. Constitution in 1875. When it failed
several states adopted it for their states.

James G. Blaine

“This is a critical case because, under the
state’s logic, the government could deny churches access to fire services or
water treatment, for example. That’s obviously not what the state or federal
constitution was designed to prevent,” noted Erik Stanley, who has litigated
the case since its inception. “The state admits that it blatantly excludes
religious organizations from a safety program that has nothing to do with
religion. That’s precisely the kind of hostility to religion that the U.S.
Constitution prohibits.”

FOT airs Tuesday mornings at 9 (Central) on
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FOT is
on the air courtesy of our loyal sponsors and underwriters: Attorney RickMcConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC
2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company
– off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where
there is live entertainment in the tap room every Thursday; and Robert Cota, Farm Bureau Financial Services, 200 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, Iowa
50125, 515-961-4555 or 515-205-5642.

We are deeply disappointed with today’s court
decision. It’s unbelievable to think that Barronelle Stutzman, a small business
owner and creative professional who loves and respects everyone who walks
through her shop’s doors, stands to lose all that she owns – her retirement,
her life savings, her home – simply for declining to create custom expression
for one event that violated her conscience for a long-time friend and customer.
All Americans should be free to peacefully live and act consistent with their
convictions and faith without threat of government punishment.

Kristen Waggoner

Our government was formed to be freedom’s
greatest protector, not its greatest threat. But we are here today because the
state of Washington and the ACLU have relentlessly gone after Barronelle’s
freedom and everything she owns.

Barronelle created custom floral arrangements
for Rob dozens of times over the course of nearly 10 years. Many of those
artistic arrangements were for his partner, Curt. One time, in all those years,
she declined to create a specific message that conflicted with her deeply held
beliefs about marriage. And Rob and Curt had no trouble obtaining wedding
flowers from two other local floral design artists. The only damages they claim
are $8 in gas to go there instead.

This case is about crushing dissent. In a
free America, people with differing beliefs must have room to coexist. It’s
wrong for the state to force any citizen to support a particular view about
marriage or anything else against their will. Freedom of speech and religion
aren’t subject to the whim of a majority; they are constitutional guarantees.

Our nation has a long history of protecting
the right to dissent, but simply because Barronelle disagrees with the state
about marriage, the government and ACLU have put at risk everything she owns.
This includes not only her business, but also her family’s savings, retirement
funds, and home. It’s no wonder that so many people are rightly calling on
President Trump to sign an executive order to protect our religious freedom.
Because that freedom is clearly at risk for Barronelle and so many other
Americans, and because no executive order can fix all of the threats to that
freedom, we will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this case and reverse this
grave injustice.

No one would expect a Muslim journalist to
write a piece for a religious journal that attacked Mohammed; no one would
expect an Orthodox Jewish artist to create a mural for a religious customer
that contradicted the Torah’s teachings. Nor should Barronelle be forced to
create custom expression celebrating a same-sex wedding.

We all have reason to fear a government that
can ruin a 72-year-old grandmother for politely disagreeing with a friend.
Tolerance is a two-way street. Otherwise, the government requires surrender,
not nondiscrimination. And no one in America should be required to surrender
their constitutional rights.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

These are a few notes about cases that have come to us from the
Life Legal Defense Foundation. Life Legal has been interviewed on our program
several times and its attorneys work free. Life Legal more recently was
instrumental in the defense of the Planned Parenthood undercover video
producer, David Daleiden, in his efforts to expose
the sale of aborted baby body parts.

Here are the notes:

Last week we heard from the girlfriend of a 31-year-old man who
suffered lack of oxygen after a heart attack. Just 24 hours after the incident,
the hospital met with the family and pressured them to donate the young man’s
organs. When the family objected, wanting to give their loved one more time to
recover, the hospital told them their decision
was “selfish.” Since then, the young man has become
increasingly responsive. His CAT scan and EEG clearly show
brain activity. When the hospital discusses his “quality of
life” and terminating his care—i.e., starving and dehydrating him to death—the
man becomes agitated. We are fighting to make sure he continues to receive
appropriate care, including food and water.

On the same day, we received a call from the daughter of an
elderly man who is in the ICU at a prestigious hospital in California. He is
intubated and cannot speak for himself, but he is alert and responds to his
family. Recently, the hospital informed the family that they would soon stop
providing food and water and transition the elderly man to “comfort care,”
which means giving him morphine until he dies. The
family was appalled and prohibited the hospital from making changes to his
treatment. The hospital told them “We don’t need your permission to
withdraw care.” A Life Legal attorney went to court the
following day and obtained a court order requiring the hospital to maintain the
man’s nutrition, hydration, and any other care he needs.

Life Legal continues
to represent the family of Joe Williams,* a young man in his thirties who
suffered a brain injury after he had trouble breathing while in the ER. We
obtained a court order keeping Joe alive, but this has been a highly
contentious case. At our last hearing, Jon Isenberg, who represented Michael
Schiavo in the lawsuit to end Terri Schiavo’s life, showed up to consult with
the other side. An attorney from the pro forced death group “Compassion and
Choices” was also present. These lawyers do not care about Joe. They simply
want to further an agenda requiring that people with certain disabilities be
killed.

You can make a tax deductable contribution to help Life Legal in its
efforts to promote life by clicking on this link.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Washington, DC—Last
Friday, President Trump’s Department of Justice announced that
it would respect the nationwide injunction against the
Obama Administration’s attempt to force all public schools to throw open
bathroom and locker room doors to biologically opposite-sex students.

Brad Dacus

“We salute President Trump’s actions to restore the privacy and dignity of
those in public schools. While communities should work to accommodate the needs
of all students, including those with Gender Identity Dysphoria, Obama’s
extreme mandate jeopardized the privacy rights of virtually every student in
public schools. No teenager in a locker room should ever have to worry
about suddenly being visually violated by someone of the opposite biological
sex while changing their clothes or showering,” said Brad Dacus, president and
founder of Pacific Justice Institute and frequent guest on FOT.

The injunction was originally issued by a federal court in Texas and had
been on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The
appeal had been taken by the Obama administration to defend
their understanding of Title IX protections. Last week’s move means
the appeal will not go forward, and the injunction remains in place.

Tuesday we will take up the issue of
euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (doctor prescribed death) with Alex
Schadenburg from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Alex has been in the
forefront fighting for life in the face of a culture of death. We’ll bring you
up-to-date on the latest activity in this field in both the United States and
Canada, as well as around the world, including a discussion of the new documentary, The
Euthanasia Deception.

Sitting in with Deacon Mike Manno tomorrow will
be Catholic Women Now co-host Julie Nelson while Gina Noll takes a well
deserved week off. And Julie will want to remind you of the upcoming Catholic
Women’s Conference Saturday, February 25 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in
West Des Moines – find out more by clicking his link.

So join us Tuesday at 9 a.m. (central) on
Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.4 & 94.5 FM and streaming on
IowaCatholicRadio.com. The program may also be heard on the Faith On Trial page
on the station’s website, and can be seen, as well as heard on the Iowa
Catholic Radio channel on YouTube. If you are out of the signal range you can
also download our app from the app store and follow us anywhere.

Faith On Trial is brought to you by our loyal
sponsors and underwriters: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville,
Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des
Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just
south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment
in the tap room every Thursday; and Robert Cota, Farm Bureau Financial
Services, 200 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, Iowa 50125, 515-961-4555 or
515-205-5642.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Atlanta, Ga. – Today, First Liberty Institute
announces they reached a settlement agreement between the State of Georgia and
First Liberty’s client, Dr. Eric Walsh. The State of Georgia agreed to pay
$225,000 to settle Dr. Walsh’s religious discrimination lawsuit.

“I am grateful this trial
has finally ended,” Dr. Eric Walsh says. “It’s been a long, difficult journey,
but it’s worth it to have my name cleared and to ensure that all Georgia
government employees know they have religious liberty.”

“This is a clear and
resounding victory for religious freedom,” Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First
Liberty Institute and counsel for Dr. Walsh, says. “We always knew the law was
on our side, so we are pleased the State of Georgia agreed to settle this case
and clear Dr. Walsh’s good name.”

Dr. Walsh, a lay
minister and former Georgia government employee, filed a lawsuit against the
Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) after evidenced surfaced that he had
been fired because of his religious beliefs.

In May 2014, Walsh accepted a position as a District Health Director with the
DPH. A week later, a DPH official asked him to submit copies of sermons he had
previously preached as a lay minister with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The day after Dr. Walsh provided his sermons to the state, the DPH terminated
Dr. Walsh. In April 2016, First Liberty Institute, along with Atlanta
law firm Parks, Chesin & Walbert, filed a lawsuit against the DPH on behalf
of Dr. Walsh, charging the DPH with religious discrimination.

“We are grateful that
the State of Georgia agreed to settle the case and acknowledge the right of
their employees to express their religious beliefs,” Dys says. “No one should
be fired for simply expressing his religious beliefs.”

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

(February
8, 2017 – Chicago) As
Congress moves forward with plans to reallocate funding from Planned
Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, to comprehensive health care
centers, citizens across America will speak up in support of the action. Saturday,
February 11, groups will gather outside over 200 Planned Parenthood facilities
in 44 states and the nation’s capital to #ProtestPP. There will also be overseas support with a
demonstration at the London headquarters of the International Planned
Parenthood Federation, which was recently defunded by executive
order.

“The
federal government has been subsidizing Planned Parenthood to the tune of more
than $430 million annually,” explained Eric Scheidler, national organizer of
#ProtestPP. “This, at the same time that the nation’s largest abortion
provider holds $500 ticket fundraisers and charges a woman about $500 to abort
her baby,” he continued. “On top of that, Planned Parenthood is trafficking
baby body parts. Taxpayers are sickened to see their money spent in support of
these atrocities.”

Planned
Parenthood exaggerates their role in women’s health care. The organization
actually provides less than 2% of manual breast exams, fewer than 1% of pap
tests, and 0% of mammograms, annually.

Moving
Planned Parenthood’s funding to federally qualified health centers will offer
women and their families a wider range of health care services and a higher
standard of care.

Citizens
for a Pro-Life Society Director, Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, stated, “The
defunding of Planned Parenthood is a matter of moral principle. Not a single
cent of American tax dollars should go to an organization that kills innocent
human life.”

“We are
closer than we’ve ever been to defunding Big Abortion—Planned Parenthood. Now
is the time for a groundswell of grassroots efforts. We call on Congress and
President Trump to reallocate those funds to health centers which help women
without killing babies,” commented Mark Harrington, National Director of Created
Equal.

“Planned
Parenthood’s brand is at an all-time low and their leadership reflects how
disconnected they are from science and basic American values. This weekend
thousands of Americans will stand in peaceful opposition to send a message that
abortion is not health care and as the nation’s largest abortion operation,
Planned Parenthood should not get $1 of taxpayer money, much less $430
million," stated Shawn Carney, President, 40 Days for Life.

#ProtestPP
events, coordinated by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Created Equal, and
the Pro-Life Action League, along with 40 Days for Life and the
Susan B. Anthony List, offer Americans a united chance to speak out against
the nation’s largest abortion chain, which kills over 300,000 babies each year.
At the same time, participants will encourage Congress to strip Planned
Parenthood of its nearly half-billion dollar taxpayer-funded stipend and
redirect those monies to comprehensive health care centers through the budget
reconciliation process.

Scheidler, also serving as
executive director for the Pro-Life Action League, remarked, “This is a
nationwide event, but at the same time it is a local community concern. As
citizens gather to encourage Congress to quit sending money to an organization
that specializes in killing children, they are also declaring that they do not
want Planned Parenthood to continue operating in their neighborhoods.”

“Americans
want to end taxpayer funding of abortion – that includes stopping taxpayer
funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and
ensuring any Obamacare replacement is pro-life, and does not allow tax dollars
or tax credits to pay for health care plans that include abortion. Planned
Parenthood is a profit-driven, abortion-centered business that has performed
more than 300,000 abortions in the last three years for which data are
available. They do not need or deserve taxpayer dollars, and redirecting their
federal funding to rural and community health centers would be a victory for
women’s health. These comprehensive clinics outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1
nationwide and provide far more services. The majority of Americans want taxpayer funding to go to
real women’s health care, not abortion. This Saturday, that majority will let
their voices be heard at #ProtestPP gatherings nationwide,” said Susan B.
Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

President
Donald Trump has made four specific commitments to the pro-life movement, including
reallocating Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to comprehensive,
whole-woman health care centers. Polling in 2018 Senate battleground states shows that
voters support redirecting Planned Parenthood’s funding to community health
centers.

About
the organizers:

Pro-Life
Action League

The
Pro-Life Action League was founded by Joe Scheidler in 1980 with the aim of
saving babies from abortion through direct action, and is now headed by Joe’s
son, Eric. Not content to await a political or judicial solution to abortion,
the League seeks to stop the killing of unborn children right now through all
available peaceful means, including public protest, sidewalk counseling,
education, youth outreach, and national leadership. Visit www.prolifeaction.org
to learn more.

Citizens
for a Pro-Life Society

Citizens
for a Pro-life Society is an activist organization, founded on Catholic
principles of morality and social justice, dedicated to advocacy of the
sanctity of human life, especially protection of the right to life of unborn
children. The goal is to work to end the culture of death and restore a culture
of life, to re-establish respect for human life created in the image and
likeness of God. Visitwww.prolifesociety.net
to learn more.

Created
Equal

Created
Equal was inspired by Mark Harrington’s vision of human rights defenders
uniting to achieve collectively far more than one person.The pro-life
advocacy group implements creative new ways to challenge the industry of
abortion. Visit www.createdequal.org
to learn more.

40
Days for Life

40
Days for Life is a community-based campaign that takes a determined, peaceful
approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion in their own
neighborhoods, for their own friends and families. It draws attention to the
evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program focusing on prayer
and fasting, constant vigil, and community outreach. Visit www.40daysforlife.com
to learn more.

Susan
B. Anthony ListSBA
List is dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce
and ultimately end abortion. To that end, SBA List emphasizes the education,
promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. Susan B. Anthony List
is a network of more than 465,000 pro-life Americans nationwide. Visit www.sba-list.org
to learn more.

Monday, February 6, 2017

President Trump has nominated Neil Gorsuch, a
judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, for the vacancy on
the U. S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, what affect will Judge Gorsuch have on
the Court especially in the areas of free speech and religious freedoms?

We’ll try to answer that question tomorrow
when John G. Malcolm, a senior follow at the Heritage Foundation returns to FOT. John is also director
of the Heritage’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

Before being named director of the Meese
Center in July 2013, John spearheaded the center’s rule of law programs. His
research and writing as senior legal fellow focused on criminal law,
immigration, national security, religious liberty and intellectual property.

The Meese Center works to educate government
officials, the media and the public about

John Malcom
The Heritage Foundation

the Constitution and legal principles
-- and how they affect public policy. The center was founded in 2001 and
overseen until early 2013 by the conservative icon whose name it bears, former
Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll for a
discussion of the possible “Gorsuch Effect” on law and society on Iowa Catholic
Radio 1150 AM, 88.4 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com. and
on our own radio app that you can download from the app store – its free!
Podcasts of prior programs can be found on our page on the station’s
web site here.

Faith On Trial is broadcast courtesy of our
underwriters and sponsors: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola,
Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines,
515-453-1055; and Confluence
Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas
Beck Road where there is live entertainment in the tap room every Thursday, and
Robert Cota, Farm Bureau Financial Services, 200 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, Iowa
50125, 515-961-4555 or 515-205-5642.

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Faith on Trial is where we examine the influence of law and society on Christianity. Here we will look at those cases and events that impinge on the rights of Christians to fully practice their faith. Join us every Tuesday morning at 9 or listen to our re-broadcast Tuesday evening at 9 (Central). The program can be heard on IowaCatholic Radio: 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on iowacatholicradio.com. Host is Attorney and Deacon Mike Manno.